This post was automatically translated into English
One of the most common questions asked by home buyers in recent years is heating prices.
One of the most common questions asked by home buyers in recent years is heating prices. Heating bills sometimes become a significant reason to change residence. Calculations by the company “Eika” show that the heating price for apartments of similar size in new and old-built houses can differ by up to a dozen times.
On average, heating in Vilnius in both old and new buildings, where heat is supplied by central city networks, costs 4.88 litas per square meter per month (data from Vilniaus Energija for 2012–2013). The price of heating in old-built houses ranges from 4 to 14 litas per square meter. This means that heating a standard old-built 2-room apartment of 50 square meters can cost up to 787 litas per month on average, and a 3-room apartment of 65 square meters – up to 1,000 litas. “In new-built B energy class houses, the average heating price ranges from 1.2 to 3.5 litas per square meter. On average, heating a 2-room apartment in these houses costs about 120 litas per month, and 3-room apartments – 150 litas,” calculates Rasa Pečiulaitė, energy project manager at Eika.
Source: UAB “Eika”, data from “Vilniaus Energija” 2012-2013.
Changing your place of residence during the heating season can save you from 350 to 1250 litas per month. “The owners of energy-inefficient, unrenovated housing can save the most by moving to a new building. Changing your housing to a more energy-efficient one in the same area of the city requires significant investments. In order to avoid additional costs, you need to compromise between location and quality. For example, an old-built apartment in the Old Town is more expensive than a new-built apartment in districts further from the center,” says the representative of “Eika”. According to R. Pečiulaitė, the heating bills of a new home of the same area could be up to 9200 litas lower per season, and if you change your old home to a new one in another district, you would not have to pay extra for the new home.
According to a survey conducted by the company “Eika” and the real estate advertisement portal Domoplius.lt, as many as 7 out of ten Lithuanians would give priority to newly built housing. Buyers indicated lower heating costs as the main reason for choosing a newly built apartment. “Those who want to save money and choose newly built housing should choose carefully, because not all newly built houses have the same heating prices. When choosing a similar apartment in a B energy class house, the difference can be up to 200 LTL per month, and up to 1,400 LTL per year,” says R.Pečiulaitė.
About the Eika group of companies
Founded in 1992, the company “Eika” is one of the largest real estate development and construction groups in Lithuania. The group of companies consists of: UAB “Eika” – a leader in the real estate market, valued for its innovation, reliability and responsibility; UAB “Eikos statyba” – a construction company with extensive experience in the construction and renovation of administrative, public, commercial, industrial and residential buildings.
More information:
Rasa Pečiulaitė
Energy Project Manager
Phone: +370 5 2045 811
Fax: +370 5 2514 256
Email: [email protected]